


Falter

by sodaschemes



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crying, F/M, Forced Marriage, Season/Series 13 Spoilers, skybound references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:02:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25217455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodaschemes/pseuds/sodaschemes
Summary: In the duel against the Munce Queen, Nyaloses.
Relationships: Jay Walker/Murtessa, Nya/Jay Walker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	Falter

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first thought I had when Murtessa challenged Nya to a duel. Poor Jay never saw it coming.

Nya lost.

She was trying, _fuck_ she was trying, but it was getting harder and harder to stand, harder to fight. 

She was giving her all. She had to win. 

She was beaten to the ground. 

“You _lose_.”

The crowd erupted in cheers. Nya struggled to get up, but her entire body was numb. Her ears were ringing.

“ _Nya_!”

The noise echoed; the only thing she could hear.

“Jay…” she breathed, reaching for him weakly.

He was running to her. Jay would help her. He would make it all alright.

But then Jay was being dragged away. She heard screaming. Her vision was filling with black specks. 

She needed Jay. She needed…

———

Jay woke with a start.

He vaguely remembered being knocked in the head when he tried to get to Nya. He didn’t think it had been purposeful, as he didn’t think Murtessa would want him hurt.

But that didn’t change that Nya had lost. 

He shivered. What would happen to him? What would happen to the others?

He sat up cautiously. He was in a lavish bedroom — well, as lavish as it could get with the munce, he supposed. The bed he was in was surprisingly soft, piled with pillows and blankets.

He was alone.

Though his head was pounding, he rolled out of the bed, stumbling to the door. He had to find Nya and Lloyd.

He gripped the stone walls to keep himself upright, making his way down the hallway. They could be anywhere.

“My love, you wake!”

Murtessa was by his side in an instant.

“You shouldn’t be up. You took a hard hit to the head,” she said, snaking an arm around him and helping him to stand.

“I gotta find Nya,” Jay insisted.

Murtessa frowned. “That _girl_ is none of your concern anymore. You are betrothed to _me_ now.”

“That’s not—” Jay cut himself off. He needed to explain to her, he needed to make her see that this was crazy. “Listen to me, Murtessa. You’re... nice, I guess, but you just… you just don’t understand! We barely know each other!”

“And yet,” Murtessa said, cupping his cheek gently, “I feel as if I have known you for a thousand years.”

Jay laughed awkwardly. “That’s very nice, but Nya is my yang. We belong together. A duel doesn’t change that!”

“The terms of the duel were agreed upon by all involved. She is your “yang” no longer.” Murtessa said, her eyes dark. Jay had a bad feeling that if he argued further, it wouldn’t be pretty. 

He fell silent, allowing her to lead him back to the room he’d woken in.

“Don’t worry, my love,” she said, gently pushing him back into the bed. “You’ll be very comfortable here.”

“But—”

The words died in his throat with the shut of the door.

———

Nya groaned as consciousness came back to her. She didn’t remember falling asleep.

“You’re awake,” Lloyd said, his voice sad.

“Where’s Jay?” Nya asked, sitting up with great difficulty. The fight had left her sore.

“They took him. Murtessa said there would be a wedding ceremony tomorrow. She said we were welcome to attend as long as we didn’t stir up any trouble.” Lloyd’s voice was numb as he said it.

“Oh _hell_ no,” Nya growled. She had dealt with this before, and she’d do it again. If Jay could save her from a marriage then she would do the same. But Jay had so many people on his side. Nya had only Lloyd. The others were elsewhere, lost in the caves. It would be two — three if Jay was able to fight — of them against an entire _army_. Still, she couldn’t lose hope so soon. “I’m not letting this happen again.”

“Again?” Lloyd asked.

In her anger, she’d forgotten he didn’t know. This would be Lloyd’s first time dealing with such a situation.

She looked up to tell him that it was nothing, but stopped short when she saw how red and puffy his eyes were. He was _crying_.

“Oh, Lloyd,” she muttered, gesturing for Lloyd to sit beside her on the bed.

He settled next to her, sniffling quietly. Nya waited patiently for him to speak.

“I don’t know what to do,” Lloyd finally said, his voice high pitched and obviously straining in an attempt not to sob. “I was so sure you’d win and—and then she hurt you, she hurt you, and now Jay is gone and the others are gone too and they could be dead! We could be the only ones left,” he said, tears streaming down his face. “I’m so scared and I should have — I should have _done_ something! But I didn’t and now Jay is going to be _married_ and — and — and—” he trailed off into a fit of sobs, breathing erratically. 

Nya pulled him close, letting him cry into her shoulder and rubbing his back comfortingly. 

“I know you’re scared,” Nya said once his cries had softened, “I am too. I’m terrified. You may not remember, but we’ve been through this before. If we’ve done it once, we can do it again. We’ll save Jay, and we’ll _find_ the others. We have to.”

She was grateful that Lloyd’s face was still pressed into her sleeve, because she didn’t want him seeing just how scared she was.

———

“You’re going to make a wonderful king,” Murtessa purred, stroking Jay’s hair lightly as he ate… whatever it was that he’d been given to eat.

Jay cringed, scooting away as best he could. Murtessa didn’t seem to notice.

“Your hair is so soft,” she hummed, continuing to play with his curls.

“Listen,” Jay said, steeling himself for yet another argument. “I _can’t_ stay down here. I’m a human, I need the sun, and… and my friends!” He purposefully avoided mentioning Nya for fear of angering the Queen. “And I need to help them defeat the Skull Sorcerer!”

Murtessa’s hand stopped, her fingers still tangled in Jay’s curls. “You will do no such thing!” She demanded. “Many have tried, and none have succeeded. I couldn’t allow my king to perish so soon after we wed.”

“Wed?” Jay squeaked.

“The ceremony will be tomorrow,” Murtessa explained, her soft tone returning. “Oh, you’ll love it. We’ll be bound forever.”

“ _Forever_?”

Oh this was bad. This was so very bad. Jay couldn’t allow this to happen, he needed to find the others and get back to the surface immediately.

“Yes,” she said, far too happy about the entire situation. “ _Forever_.”

Jay was beginning to understand how Nya must have felt when Nadakhan decided he would marry her. It wasn’t a fun situation to be in.

Murtessa’s intentions seemed nowhere near as malicious as that rotten djin's had been, but that didn’t make it much better. It certainly didn’t help his situation.

He needed to come up with a plan, and _fast_.

———

Lloyd ended up crying himself to sleep. Nya was relieved that he was at least getting some rest. 

Being a ninja came with so much stress, but _this_ , this may have just been Nya’s breaking point.

Jay was all alone, and it was Nya’s fault. If only she had been stronger. If only she had tried a little harder. If, if, if.

She wondered if Jay was scared. Scared that he would be trapped down here, scared that he would never see the others again, scared that he would never get to marry Nya.

Nya could relate.

When this was all over, if they even got out of it, she wasn’t letting Jay leave her side ever again.

She shifted slightly, hissing in pain. She hadn’t expected the queen to be such a strong fighter. It wasn’t a mistake she would make again. 

Lloyd groaned, but didn’t stir other than that. In his sleep, he cuddled against Nya’s arm.

She almost wanted to cry too. But she knew that if she let herself, she wouldn’t be able to pull herself together enough to save Jay. She needed to put off her emotions until they were all safe.

“I bring you food,” Murt said, entering the room with two bowls of food balanced in his hands.

Nya shushed him, but accepted the bowl gratefully.

“Murt,” she said, fiddling with the spoon aimlessly. “What are weddings down here like?”

“We do not have many,” Murt said, pausing to think for a moment. “Very nice ceremonies, very official.”

Well, _that_ was helpful.

“I am sorry you lost,” Murt said. “I was rooting for you.”

That was the last he said before he turned and hurried out of the room.

Nya sighed, dropping the spoon into the bowl of glop. Maybe she would be hungry later.


End file.
